Inner Thoughts
by Temari101
Summary: What happens when Tyson sucks Ray into speaking his mind for a whole week, and ends up getting sucked into doing it too? Will Ray's real thoughts and feeling end up causing fights, and is Tyson being too confident in his ability to win? Kai/Ray Tyson/Max
1. Let the Game Begin

**So this is a story that came to me randomly when I was writing my other Beyblade story. I passed it by two of my friends before writing it, and with both of them thinking my idea could come out to be a great story I decided to start it to see where it went.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade (Sadly)**

* * *

It was a nice and warm day in Japan. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. The streets in the neighbourhoods were almost deserted making the area around Tyson's house quiet and peaceful. There were no tournaments going on, that the Bladebreakers knew of, so they had this nice day off to relax, or train as Kai was doing. Like most of the kids in the area, Kai was out spending the day building on his Beyblading skills so he could stay in top form. The other members of the team, however, didn't have the same idea. Max was at his father's shop helping him fix blades that seemed to constantly come in while other kids were shopping for new parts. Tyson had chosen to stay home in hopes to get some extra sleeping and eating in, but his grandpa had tried to throw him into training, making him leave the dojo. And Ray had just chosen to spend his time relaxing by the river, staring at the clouds and day dreaming. It was a pretty lazy, and boring, day in all for Tyson and Ray, but Tyson was itching for something fun to do.

The sound of the calm river Ray had been listening to was interrupted by hurried footsteps and shouting. He propped himself up on his elbows to see where the yelling was coming from, and why the person wanted him. Tyson appeared in front of him a few seconds later panting. "I've been...look...everywhere...for you," he said as he caught his breath and sat down in the grass beside Ray.

"Why?" Ray asked him, although that wasn't the first thing that popped into his head to say to the boy. Ray hardly ever chose to say the first thing that came to his mind, because he worried how people would react to them.

"I needed someone to be with so I have an excuse to get out of grandpa's training," Tyson told him falling back on the grass and looking up at the sky. "And Max is busy with his dad, so I don't want to bother him, and Kai, well, I don't know where Kai is. So that just leaves you, buddy."

"Oh," Ray said dropping down from his elbows and looking up too.

The stayed in the grass like that for a few minutes before Tyson finally got restless and rolled over to look at Ray. Ray glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "Hey Ray?" Tyson asked.

"What?" Ray asked looking away from him again. He knew the tone Tyson's voice was getting and could tell he was planning something in his head as he talked.

"What do you _really_ think about me?" he asked seriously and out of nowhere. Ray took a few seconds to answer, a little shocked by the question.

"Uh, I think you're a good friend and pretty funny sometimes?" he told him, but it was more of a question than a statement.

"Liar," Tyson said sitting up and glaring down at him.

"No, that's what I think about you," Ray told him turning his head to look at him. Tyson crossed his arms.

"It took you a while to answer there, buddy. You hesitated like you were thinking about it. What you _really_ think should be the first thing that comes to your mind," he told him. "Now what do you _really_ think about me?"

"Tyson I already told you what I think," Ray told him sitting up. His plan was getting in motion now. Any second Tyson would get the chance to unleash it, and hopefully start to make a boring day more interesting.

"No you didn't you had to think something up," Tyson almost yelled.

"No really Tyson I-" Ray was cut off.

"I bet you can't speak your mind for a whole week!" Tyson yelled at him. His plan had just been set. The game they would be playing for Tyson's entertainment was now on the table. All Tyson had to do now was get Ray to take hold of it so he could drag him in.

Ray sat frozen for a few seconds staring at Tyson. Tyson stared back with an angry glare on his face. "I bet I could," Ray told in almost a whisper. He'd taken the bait. "It's you who can't." Tyson raised an eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean? I always speak my mind," he told him. Ray laughed. He'd just turned the table on Tyson and was sucking him into his own game.

"Prove it," he said. "I'll speak my mind for a whole week if you do to." Tyson grinned. This was going to be fun. Suckering Ray into this bet was the easiest thing he'd ever done, although he hadn't planned on getting sucked into it too. But he wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

"Fine, but since I started this I make up the rules," Tyson told him hoping to turn things back around and give him the upper hand in this bet. "Rule 1: You can't say uh, um, hmm, or ever hesitate to think of something. Rule 2: If you really can't think of something right away, you have to say 'I really don't know,' or something along those lines. Rule 3: Kenny is the only person who's allowed to know about this bet since we can't be around each other all the time to make sure the other person hasn't slipped up. Rule 4: If the bet ever comes up in conversation and it is the first thing that comes to your mind you haveten seconds to think up a lie. Rule 5: You can't avoid anyone just because you're scared of hurting their feelings or something. And Rule 6: You can't give up willingly."

Tyson practically yelled these rules at Ray in his excitement for something to do, and Ray wasn't too eager to play anymore with these rules. Tyson had successfully turned the game around again. He also didn't understand how Kenny would be able to monitor both him and Tyson at once. But he guessed he had to trust Tyson in what he was doing. "Fine," Ray said standing up and clenching his fist. "But are you sure you can spend a whole week without slipping up?" he asked trying to refer to the person he was sure Tyson had a small crush on. Tyson nodded.

"And you?" he asked, doing the same thing Ray had just done, referring to the person he though Ray liked. Ray nodded.

"So, what are we wagering?" he asked.

"I'll figure that out later. For now hurting lots of people's feelings is enough punishment, no need for the loser to lose something extra," Tyson told him laughing.

"Do you really think that, or are you just afraid of losing?" Ray asked him smirking.

"Ha, afraid of losing, you wish!" Tyson yelled standing up. "How about the winner gets to pick the losers punishment?"

"That's fine with me," Ray told him nodding.

"Good, than we start once we get all set up at Kenny's house!" Tyson yelled excitedly running up the hill. Ray let out a little sigh and followed the baseball cap wearing boy.

They entered Kenny's house and ran straight up stairs to his room. Tyson grabbed the door knob and flung the door open yelling his name. Kenny let out a yell and fell backwards off the chair he was sitting on. "Tyson don't do that!" He yelled getting back up. Tyson laughed.

"Sorry about that," he said rubbing the back of his head. "But we need your help."

"You and Ray wreak your blades or something?" Kenny asked. "Because I'm really too busy right now to deal with that, why don't you go to Max and his dad, I'm sure they'll help you."

"It has nothing to do with Beyblade's!" Tyson told him yelling again.

"Well it better not be girl trouble, because chef can't even deal with his own," Kenny's Bit-Beast Dizzi, who was trapped in his computer, told them making Kenny blush slightly.

"No, it has nothing to do with girls!" Tyson continued to yell. "Listen chef, we need you to make something that will let you hear us no matter where we are, but we can't hear you!"

"You mean like a mini microphone that connects back to my laptop, or to headphones?" Kenny asked, and Tyson nodded. "Why on Earth would you need that?"

"We need it for a bet!" Tyson told him excitedly.

"A bet you say?" Kenny asked sounding interested.

A few hours later Ray and Tyson were all set. Kenny was very interested in this bet because it allowed him to get to know Tyson and Ray better and maybe even Max and Kai depending on how they reacted to Tyson and Ray's new behaviour. Although Kenny didn't think Tyson would be any different going into the bet, which is why he thought Ray was the underdog in this. Tyson was already speaking his mind more than seventy percent of the time, where Ray, Kenny guessed, only spoke it about twenty percent of the time. But nevertheless, Ray had agreed to it.

Kenny handed both boys two different looking mini microphones. Tyson's was small and red, and would fit on the inside of his jacket collar perfectly and securely so that almost nothing would knock it off. Ray's, on the other hand, was white, but also small, and fit perfectly on his shirt collar. It was also very secure and most likely wouldn't fall off. After Tyson and Ray had fastened the mini microphones, with a little help from Kenny just to be safe, they tested them. Kenny spent about ten minutes on each one programming them so the output sound would be let out so only Dizzi could hear or read it, and so it would go to a small ear peace Kenny had made. Kenny would be monitoring both boys, and Dizzi would help just in case he missed something since it would be extremely hard to pay attention to both boys at once.

When all the adjustments were done, which included Tyson and Ray having to walk down the block in separate directions, and back, talking to themselves, Tyson and Ray said thanks to Kenny and headed back out onto the streets. "And the bet starts...now!" Tyson yelled.

"Oh joy," said Ray rolling his eyes.

"So Ray, like I asked before, what do you _really_ think of me?" Tyson asked him.

"You're an annoying slob," Ray told him with a sigh.

"Ouch Ray, that hurts," Tyson laughed.

"I'm sure it does, but you wanted the truth. You know, if the only reason you started this bet was so I'd answer that one question for you, than I'm going to kill you," Ray told him a little bitterly.

"No, it was because I was bored, actually, and I thought you might be too. We had this whole day to do nothing and I thought it would be more interesting if we did this for longer than just our day off," Tyson told him laughing again.

"Well I was bored today. But I don't think I'm going to have fun doing this a whole week," Ray told him with a sigh.

"Why wouldn't you?" Tyson asked him raising an eyebrow.

"Never mind," Ray told him quickly, and Tyson stopped.

"Ha! You lost already!" He yelled happily.

"I did not! You didn't say we couldn't say never mind and it was the first thing that popped into my head when you asked!" Ray yelled back at him. Tyson glared.

"You found a loophole," he said a little disappointedly. "But now that you have, I can use it too."

"Happy to have helped," Ray said sarcastically as he crossed the street.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tyson yelled after him.

"I can't deal being alone with you for more than a few minutes when you're in a talking mood! Sorry, come find me later, and if you're still in a talking mood bring Max with you!" Ray yelled back at him.

"That hurts Ray! Your mind is really harsh!" Tyson yelled at him pouting slightly.

"Well you asked for it," Ray told him shrugging, and then running off before Tyson could say anything more.

Ray ran all the way back to the river. This time, however, he went and hid under the bridge and sat on a few boxes there. He needed time to think. He had to figure out a strategy for winning this bet. Tyson was a pretty easy person to talk to. He now knew he could say anything to him and the boy wouldn't really care that much. Max was also going to be pretty easy. He might have a few things slip out when talking to him that he wouldn't usually let slip out. But he knew Max wouldn't mind them, he might even like hearing them. But Ray knew if he ever ran into Kai, which he would, and Kai started to talk to him, which was pretty likely, he'd end up dying on embarrassment. There were so many things that came to his mind when he was talking to Kai that he never said out loud. There were so many things he wished he _could_ say to him, but never did because he was scared of what his reaction might be. And now, if he didn't figure out a strategy for talking they would all come flying out the next time he saw him. But no matter how much Ray didn't want to say these things, he didn't want to lose to Tyson. Ray let out an angry sigh as he held his head in his hands. Tyson had sucked him in, and he'd fallen for it. This was going to be a long week.


	2. Maxie

After about an hour of hiding from everyone, even though he'd say he wasn't actually hiding since he was outside in an open space, Ray got up off the box he was sitting on and started to walk along the river. It was still nice and sunny out, and he would have liked to stay out longer, but it was around lunch time now and he was getting hungry. He headed up the small hill beside the river's edge and started to walk along the road. He would have to go back to the dojo for lunch if he wanted anything to eat. He didn't have money for food, and he was going to have to go back to everyone eventually, since he was bound to run out of excuses to shadow the fact that he really had been avoiding everyone and should have lost already.

Ray got all the way to the dojo front without running into anyone. He was glad for this too. He wanted to postpone talking for as long as he could. But in thinking this he'd felt he ended up jinxing himself, because as he entered into the dojo yard he heard voices in the back. There were only two though, and Ray could make them out as Tyson and his grandpa. He let out a sigh of relief, and headed into the back following Tyson's shouts. "But I don't want to train!" Tyson yelled at his grandpa. "I hate it, and you've never managed to get a hit on me yet so it's not like I need it!"

"Dodging isn't the whole point of your training, little man! Yes you have to be quick on your feet, but you have to be able to stand your ground and hit hard too!" Grandpa G yelled back.

"Well maybe if your training exorcises weren't so boring than me, and even some other people, would actually want to come learn from you!" Tyson told him.

"Training isn't meant to be fun and games. It's meant to make you better at what you already know how to do, you dig?" he asked.

"But the only think I _want_ to get better at is Beyblading, and I do train for that!" Tyson retorted as Ray stood around the corner watching them. He didn't think it would be cheating to not join in the fight if they didn't know he was there.

"How are you supposed to take over my gig when I finally hit the dirt if you don't know what you're supposed to be doing?" Grandpa G asked Tyson.

"But I do know what I'm doing, grandpa, and I'll make training more fun for everyone when I do take over. And please stop talking like that. You're not 'hitting the dirt' yet, or anytime soon, so we don't need to be talking about it," he told him in a slightly pleading tone.

Ray chose this time to finally step around the corner and walk over to them. He didn't want to listen to Tyson and his grandpa fighting like this because of the bet they made. He never knew Tyson to go on with his grandpa like this. He usually ended the arguments quickly with some kind of excuse. Ray tapped Tyson on the shoulder, and the boy turned around.

"Oh it's just you, Mr. 'I'm a real jerk on the inside', you had me scared there for a second," Tyson told him giving a nervous chuckle.

"Why would you be scared of seeing someone else?" Ray asked him raising an eyebrow.

"Because I'm not really in the mood to talk to Max yet, but I should have realized it couldn't be him. He's still with his dad after all," he told him.

"Why are you scared to see Max, Tyson?" Ray asked smirking slightly.

"Never mind," Tyson said quickly turning to hide the red in his face. Ray cursed.

"Stupid loophole," he said in an angry mumble crossing his arms.

Tyson's grandpa looked from Tyson to Ray and back again rubbing his chin. But he didn't say anything about the fact that he thought they were acting a little unusual though. Instead he changed the subject again. "So I suppose you're both hungry," he said. "Are rice balls and dumplings ok with you boys?"

"Yes defiantly!" Tyson yelled happily as he grinned.

"Not really," Ray answered. On any other occasion he'd have just said sure and only eaten a little, but he wouldn't be able to do that for the rest of the week.

"What do you mean not really? What do you want instead," Grandpa G asked him.

"Sushi," Ray told him with a little chuckle.

"Of course _you_ would want that," Tyson said crossing his arms and turning to look at him again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ray asked him a little bitterly.

"Well you'd obviously want raw fish, you're pretty much a cat after all," he said faking a laugh to try and lighten the mood, but it didn't work very well.

"Well at least it's better than being a pig!" Ray told him yelling for the first time in a while. Tyson opened his mouth to answer, but his grandpa cut him off.

"Hey, there's no reason for my homies to be fighting over food! I have all three of those thing, and I'll bring them all. That ok with you, little dudes?" he asked them. The two of them nodded. "Alright, I'll be back! Try not to kill each other's ego while I'm gone!" He yelled as he left to go get food.

Tyson and Ray spent the rest of their lunch in silence only talking when Tyson's grandpa said something, or asked them something, which lead to a few mini fights between them without intension. Most of them were Ray's fault because he always seemed to have a comment for Tyson whenever he said something, and he started to wonder if the only reason they were friends was because he always kept his mouth shut about the things he was now saying to Tyson. Tyson's grandpa didn't seem to think much of the fighting though. He just kept telling Tyson to cool down and that Ray was probably having an off day. This made Tyson almost slip and bring up the bet a few times for argument sake, but he always managed to think of something else to say quickly. Ray was starting to feel better about this bet now. So far it was obvious he was having an easier time with it than Tyson, but he knew it wouldn't last long once Kai chose to come back.

When Ray was finished eating he said thanks to Grandpa G, and headed out of the yard yelling a sarcastic thanks to Tyson when he asked where his was. Then Ray headed up the street at a run. He needed to get away from Tyson as fast as he could. He was getting sick of all the fighting. Ray began to pick up his pace running along the walls around the other homes in the neighbourhood. He rounded a corner, and ran into something making him fall back, not being able to catch his balance in his current state. He hit the ground hard with a thud, and groaned a little closing his eyes. "I'm so sorry Ray!" said a shocked voice. "Are you hurt?"

"It's ok, I only hurt my butt," Ray said taking a few deep breaths before opening his eyes to an out stretched had attached to a worried looking Max. Ray grabbed his hand to help himself up. "So how are you Maxie?" he asked. He would have normally said sorry for running into Max by now, but a sorry was never the first thing that came to him. Something else always forced itself to come up first.

"I'm fine, I was just on my way to go see Tyson," he said with a little laugh. "Where were you going in such a hurry?"

"I actually don't know," Ray told him laughing. "I was just running away from Tyson's place."

"Oh, why's that?" Max asked raising an eyebrow.

"I was getting sick of all the fighting we were doing," Ray told him shrugging.

"Is Tyson in a bad mood or something?" he asked.

"I guess you could say that," Ray told him and then laughed. "He was actually a little scared that I was you when I first got there." He blurted out trying to move the subject slowly away from Tyson's mood.

"Why would he be scared to see me? What did he do? He didn't break something of mine did he? Maybe I should hurry over there and check on him," Max said sounding a little panicked as his eyes went wide.

"I don't think he broke something, or did anything to your things. But I don't know why he would be either," Ray told him with a shrug.

"Well maybe I should go check on him, just to make sure. I was going to go over there anyways, but I think I better hurry now," he said trying to push past Ray.

"It's ok Maxie, calm down. I mean you're kind of cute when you're all panicked and worried and stuff, but there's no need to be. Everything's fine with Tyson," Ray told him, pinching himself as he spoke.

Max stopped walking, and looked at Ray for a few seconds. Blinking and turning a light shade of pink as he wondered if he'd heard him properly. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finding the words he wanted to say. "Did you just...call me cute?"

"Kind of cute," Ray corrected him as he pinched himself harder.

"Well I guess that's kind of nice to hear, I just never thought that you would..." Max trailed off. "Never mind, I need to go see Tyson before my lunch break is over." And he headed in the opposite direction Ray was going. "I'll see you later!" he yelled back to him as he turned a corner at the end of the road. Ray let out a frustrated sigh as he turned to the wall beside him and hit his head against it a few times. He then leaned against it taking a few deep breaths before starting back into a run down the street.

Tyson jumped when he heard the familiar voice calling his name. He really didn't want to talk to Max right now. He was actually hopping Max would spend the whole week at his dads so he'd never have to talk to him, and couldn't be told he was avoiding him. "Tyson, where are you? I have a lunch break right now and I wanted to talk to you!" Max yelled as he came around to the back where Tyson was sitting by the pond. "There you are! Why didn't you answer when I was calling you?" he asked the boy.

"I was hoping you'd think I wasn't home, and you'd leave," Tyson told him without looking up at him as he bit his lip. It hurt him to have to tell Max this truth.

"Why?" Max asked. "Ray told me you were scared to see me, but I didn't really think it was the truth. But then again, Ray always tells everyone the truth."

"Yeah, right, of course he does," Tyson said a little coldly. Max walked the rest of the way over to Tyson and sat down beside him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Max asked him. "Are you in a bad mood because you and Ray have been fighting?"

"Yeah," Tyson told him with a deep sigh.

"Well I'm sure things will get better, won't they? Ray can't stay mad at you forever," he laughed. Tyson glanced over at him.

"You said that like it was my fault we were fighting," he told him.

"Well I just assumed..." Max said trailing off.

"Well it wasn't me, it was all him, him and his nasty comments!" Tyson yelled at the blond haired boy. Max blinked.

"Well I'm sure he's just in an off mood about something. I mean, he did call me cute when I was talking to him before I got here," Max told him weakly.

"He called you what?" Tyson asked through clenched teeth, standing up and clenching his fists.

"It's ok Tyson, it's not like that's a bad thing..." Max told him trying to calm the boy down. But it wasn't working.

"I can't believe he did that when he knows! I'm sure he knows, and he called you cute anyways! Not that I can blame him, you are cute, but he shouldn't have done that if he knows!" Tyson yelled as he walked angrily over to one of his trees and punched it hard.

"Knows what...Tyson did you just call me...What's going on with you guys?!" Max yelled standing up now too. He was completely confused. Neither Ray nor Tyson had showed any interest in him except as friends since he met them, and now out of nowhere they were confessing that they thought he was cute. Of course they could mean anything by cute, and it wasn't like Max wasn't flattered to hear them say it. But he didn't understand why it was so sudden and why Tyson was getting so worked up about it.

Tyson looked over at Max from where he was now standing with his fist still against the tree. "I think I better go, you don't seem like you're in the mood to talk," Max said backing away. Tyson frowned.

"But I want you to stay," he told him.

"Why? So you can freak me out by getting angry while calling me cute some more?" Max asked him laughing nervously.

"But it's true, you are," Tyson told him clenching his fist tighter and pushing it against the tree harder. Max laughed nervously again.

"Well ok, thanks Tyson, but I really need to get back to help my dad. He only gave me a short lunch break after all," he said putting his hands up in front of him and backing away a little faster.

"Fine, just go than," Tyson said, and Max turned walking quickly away as Tyson let out a sigh. It looked like he'd screwed things up with Max already and it was only the first day. Tyson wanted revenge on Ray now. He wasn't going to let Max be freaked out by him without giving Kai the chance to be freaked out by Ray. He removed his hand from the tree, and let his fist go. His knuckles were a little scratched up, but he didn't care. All he cared about was his new, almost impossible, objective, finding Kai.


	3. Kai

Tyson walked through the streets looking franticly. He had no idea where to look for someone like Kai, and spent most of his afternoon just searching the different neighbourhoods. When he'd finally gotten annoyed with his search, he decided to take it to the next level. Tyson stopped in front of Kenny's house, looking up at it. He hesitated for a second before taking a deep breath and entering it running quickly up to Kenny's room. He flung the door open, without yelling this time, and Kenny looked up at him. "Oh hey Tyson, is something wrong?" Kenny asked him not being as startled this time.

"I need you to help me with something!" Tyson shouted at him.

"If it has to do with Max, I'm not sure I can. I have no idea how to change his feelings after being called cute by two boys like you and Ray so suddenly. And I actually wanted to talk to you about that. What was your actual meaning behind that word, because I don't really understand what's going on anymore," Kenny told him quickly and starting to sound a little annoyed.

"We have no time for that chief! I need you to help me find Kia!" Tyson yelled angrily at him.

"Tyson, I'm not sure I should be helping you with something like that! You're going to physically drag him into this bet of yours, and besides you told me I can't interfere!" Kenny yelled back.

"Hey, I made up the bet and the rules! I can change them if I want to!" Tyson told him clenching his fist. He wanted his revenge, and he would get it at any cost.

"But Tyson, that wouldn't be fair to Ray!" Kenny told him in a pleading sort of way.

"Just help me find Kai and then the rules can go back to what they were before!" Tyson begged getting ready to drop down on his knees. Kenny didn't say anything. "Please! At least give me a hint!" Tyson continued. Kenny let out a long sigh.

"If I were you, I'd be looking in places with beystadium's, or the park, he seems to go there often," Kenny told him in a defeated tone.

"Of course, how could I be so stupid?" Tyson asked, and then ginned happily. "Thanks chief!" he yelled as he ran out of Kenny's room closing the door, with a slam, behind him.

With Kenny's new advice Tyson worked quicker at looking for Kai. He went to the park first, since that's where Kai had been spotted the most lately, but he wasn't there. Tyson than went searching at every beystadium in town he could think, but they all turned up empty, besides the few rooky bladders. With a sigh, Tyson headed back home. It was almost dinner time now anyways, and either Kai would be at the dojo for dinner, or Tyson could assume he'd fallen of the face of the Earth.

Ray on the other hand was having more luck in Tyson's task than Tyson was, or in Ray's opinion he was having the same amount of luck. Ray had decided to take a walk down the main street, right down the town's marketplace, to clear his mind and hide amongst the people. But just to his luck, in the midst of his confused and swirling thoughts, he bumped into something rock hard and stumbled a few steps back. Ray could only guess it was a person, since he was walking down the middle of the street staring at his own feet instead of in front of him, but the person didn't seem to notice him, or just didn't care. Ray looked up, and his jaw dropped. "K-Kai," he stammered as his mind went completely blank for a few seconds.

"Ray," Kai said standing very still with his arms crossed, "Watch where you're going."

"Right, I'm so sorry," Ray said quickly backing up a step.

"Hn," Kai answered.

"Can you please not answer like that," Ray mumbled just loud enough for him to hear. Kai raised an eyebrow at him. "It just makes me think that you don't really care or something," Ray told him.

"Maybe I don't care," Kai said a little coldly.

"Well you should. I just walked into you and said sorry. At least say 'Hn' with a little emotion," he said starting to pinch himself again. On any other day Ray would have just accepted the 'Hn' and kept on his way, but now he was forcing himself to carry on.

"Hn," Kai answered him with a lot of annoyance and anger in the tone it came out in. Ray let out a little chuckle.

"See, that's better," he said backing up another step.

"What's wrong with you?" Kai asked him in a slightly more casual tone.

Ray froze and turned a slight pink. He didn't know what exactly it was, but he guessed that Kia noticing something was off made him a little nervous. "Never mind," Ray said quickly looking around for a reason to leave. Kai raised his eyebrow at the boy again. "Don't look at me like that!" Ray blurted out as he turned a little redder.

"Like what?" Kai asked curiously, his eyebrow still up. He knew something was defiantly off with Ray. Usually he'd have gotten sick of talking to him by now and just left, but now he seemed to be pressing the conversation on.

"Like that!" Ray yelled, and then said the next sentence as quickly as he could. "With your arms crossed, and your eyebrow up, and just with that sexy look on your face!" This was the strategy Ray had come up with for talking to Kai while he was sitting alone thinking. He'd talk quickly, and either loudly or quietly so his words were hard to understand. That way he would still be saying what was on his mind, but Kai might not necessarily understand it.

"I thought I just heard the word sexy?" Kai said, but it was in more of a question, "Talk slower."

"No," Ray told him shaking his head, happy that Kai was unsure of what he'd head. It meant his strategy was working.

"Hn," Kai said in his emotionless tone.

"Well I really have to get going. I'll see you tonight at the dojo, maybe," Ray told him quickly again, and then turned running back down the marketplace street.

Ray entered the back yard of the dojo quickly. He spotted Tyson sitting down in the grass under a tree with his arms behind his head, and marched over to him. "You sent him after me, didn't you?" Ray asked him angrily.

"Sent who after what?" Tyson asked snapping out of a nap he'd been having.

"You sent Kai after me!" Ray yelled standing over him with his arms crossed.

"I did not! I couldn't even find him!" Tyson yelled back.

"Well why else would Kai be at the marketplace? That doesn't seem like a place he'd go to on his own!" Ray told him. He was really beginning to hate Tyson.

"I swear I didn't send him there! I didn't even know where you went after you left here! I didn't even find him when I was looking for him! He wasn't in any of the nearby neighbourhoods, or at the park, or training at any of the beystadium's!" Tyson told him standing up so he was level with Ray.

"But you agree you were looking for him so you could send him after me?" Ray asked.

"Of course I was, but I didn't find him and I didn't know where you were, so how could I have sent him to the marketplace to find you?" Tyson asked him. He was getting annoyed with the Ray that had been trapped inside for so long, and he just wished Ray would lose the bet so he could win already and this rude, angry, Ray could go away.

There were footsteps coming from behind Ray, and he turned to see who was there, as Tyson took a step to the side to take a look. It was Grandpa G, and he wasn't looking too happy. "Are you little dudes fighting again?" he asked with his hands on his hips. Tyson and Ray nodded. "Well you shouldn't be. I don't know what you're fighting about, but I heard you mention your home boy Kai and you shouldn't be talking about one of your homies when they're not here. I sent the dude down to the marketplace to pick up some stuff for the dinner I'm making, you dig?" he asked them.

"I told you I didn't send him after you!" Tyson yelled in Ray's ear. Ray let out a growl.

"And it better stay that way," he told him clenching his fist. Tyson laughed.

"You wish it would," he told him. "But wishes don't always come true."

"Tyson, I will murder you!" Ray yelled turning and grabbing the front of his shirt. Tyson laughed.

"Relax buddy," he told him. "I'm sure you can handle talking to Kai without losing the bet in the process." Ray raised his fist, but he was stopped from doing anything more by a shout from behind him.

"Wow little dudes, no fist fights!" Grandpa G yelled making Ray let go of Tyson and lower his fist. "Now if you dudes really need to let out some steam, go pick up a sword and fight it out in the dojo!" Ray looked over his shoulder at Tyson's grandpa, and then back at Tyson.

"No way Ray, we're not going to physically fight this out," Tyson told him trying to keep his voice calm so Ray would too.

"Why not, you scared I'll be better than you at that too?" Ray asked him.

"No, I'm scared you'll get hurt since I actually know what I'm doing," he told him trying desperately to keep his voice calm. Ray just laughed.

"That's just another way of saying your chicken!" he yelled. Tyson glared at him.

"Alright Ray, but don't say I didn't warn you when you end up getting hurt," he told him, and turned leading the way to the front of the dojo. Ray laughed again. Tyson had no idea what he was capable of.


	4. A Big Fight

Tyson ran into the dojo and straight to the wooden swords by the wall. He grabbed two of them and threw one at Ray, which he caught, when he entered a few seconds later. Tyson held his sword in both hands and did his starting stance just like his grandpa has showed him. "You better put on one of the suites," Tyson said motioning to the outfits in a corner of the room, which his grandpa's students wore. "I don't want to hurt you." Ray laughed.

"You, hurt me?" he asked. "If anyone needs to wear one of those it's you, Tyson." Tyson glared at Ray.

"I don't need to wear one because you're not going to get a single hit on me!" he yelled charging at Ray and swinging down. Ray took a quick step to the side, and yawned as Tyson missed him.

"Are you sure about that?" Ray asked poking Tyson lightly in the side with his sword. "Because I have a feeling by the end of this you're going to be very hurt." Tyson turned and continued to glare at Ray.

"That's what you think!" he yelled missing again as Ray moved away quickly.

"Tyson, I'm not like most people you've face. I actually know what I'm doing," Ray told him leaning on his sword.

"Don't lie to me, you've never tried this kind of fighting in your life," Tyson said a little angrily, but didn't go to hit Ray this time.

"No, but I've done other things that help me, and judging by what you're doing it's not that hard to fight this way. Please go get some armour on before I hurt you," he told the stubborn boy, but Tyson just shook his head and went for Ray again. Ray let out a sigh and dodged, this time knocking Tyson's hat off as he did.

"You stupid cat, you're so cheating!" Tyson yelled kicking his hat off to the side of the room. Ray glared at him, still holding the sword in just one hand.

"Oh am I now? Because I'm sure you wouldn't care about me being cat like if you knew you could win!" Ray yelled at him. "You're such a sore loser Tyson, just admit that you can't beat me and I'll stop."

"Never," Tyson said through clenched teeth. A small smirk went across Ray's face.

"Alright, you asked for it," Ray said, his pupils going into slits like cat eyes, as he started to go full force on Tyson.

A long while later both Tyson and Ray were lying in the grass outside the dojo panting, their swords on the ground beside them. It was now getting darker out, and the sun was starting to set. The fight had moved into the yard because Tyson thought if he lured Ray outside he'd have a little more of an advantage, but he was wrong. They'd both fought hard, but Tyson's fighting hadn't done anything to really affect Ray. Ray was only tired because of all the dodging he'd done against Tyson's attacks. Where Tyson was tired from all the running after Ray he'd done, and from getting up after being knocked down so many times. He'd only started to get hits in on Ray closer to the end when they were both getting tired, but that hadn't done much to him win since he was so tired. So Ray had defiantly won, but he knew Tyson wouldn't acknowledge it.

The two boys sat up after they'd rested themselves and, to their surprise, Tyson's grandpa was sitting a little ways away from them with two glasses of water. They stared at him and waited until he nodded before going over to the glasses and drinking them quickly. When they were done they put the glasses back down and said thank you. There was a few seconds pause before Tyson's grandpa spoke. "That was a disgrace," he said direction his words to Tyson.

"What do you mean by that?" Tyson asked him a little confused.

"Not one good hit!" grandpa G yelled at him. "Now I don't blame you for that little man, that dude is good, but you could have at least dodged!" Tyson looked at his grandpa with wide-eyes.

"I was just tired from the long day and a little out of practice, that's all!" he yelled back.

"I don't think it matters little man, your home bro still would have won," grandpa G told him shaking his head. "You're really not ready to take this dojo after all, and you might never be."

"That's not true! I'll take it over for you! I'll start practicing eventually!" Tyson yelled standing up and clenching his fists. His grandpa shook his head standing up too.

"Knowing you eventually will be too late," he said picking up the glasses, turning, and headed back towards the house.

"Grandpa that's not true! I'll get better!" Tyson yelled after him. But his grandpa didn't stop or even do anything to acknowledge him.

Ray sat in the grass watching as Tyson just stood there watching his grandpa leave. He then saw Tyson loosen his fists and turned to Ray with the intent to kill on his face. He glared at Ray for a few seconds before yelling out in anger. "This is all your fault, you and your special skills!" he accused Ray kicking at the dirt. "Grandpa would have never said that if he hadn't seen how much better you are than me! He's always pushing me to be better, but can never get me to train because he always misses when he tries to prove a point by trying to get me by surprise! And now that he's seen how good you are he expects me to do better because that was only your first time fighting like that! How am I supposed to get better than you like he wants, or ever just as good? I don't have the abnormal skills you do!" Ray blinked at Tyson before glaring back at him.

"Well maybe if you had your _own_ skills, or _made_ your own, you wouldn't have to be jealous of my 'abnormal' ones!" he yelled back. He was sick of Tyson. They'd just had a huge fight and he was still willing to go at it.

"_Jealous_?" Tyson asked. "Why would I be jealous of a mangy little cat?"

"You know Tyson, you're a real jerk!" Ray yelled standing up and pushing past him towards the front gate of the dojo.

"Yeah, thanks for the update, so are you! I'll see you in an hour or two, and I will get you back for all this!" he yelled after him.

Ray sighed as he realized Tyson was right. He was back at the dojo about two hours later. He'd taken a short walk along the river, and up into the park, before the sun had gone down quite a bit and his stomach started growling. It was dinner time, or just past it, and Ray sighed as he realized that he'd have to go back to the dojo having no other place to go. He didn't want to go back and start another fight with Tyson, but he didn't know how he could avoid it if he wanted to win this bet. Ray let out a sigh and walked through the entrance of the dojo towards the smell of food cooking.

Ray fallowed the smell into the back where Tyson's grandpa was set up with a small barbeque, a table, and a few chairs. Ray walked over to him smiling. "What are you making Mr. G?" he asked taking a seat.

"Well I was making you dudes some burgers but the little man disappeared on me, Max hasn't shown up yet, and your home boy Kai just dropped off the food and left," grandpa G explained.

"Well if they don't show up that's more for use," Ray said shrugging. Grandpa G laughed.

"You're right there," he said smiling. "But I'm sure your homeys will show up, they always do."

"Yeah, I guess," Ray said with a little sigh.

"So what's up with you and the little man anyways?" grandpa G asked. Ray shrugged, thinking as he did so he wouldn't bring up the bet.

"I guess we're just getting a little sick of each other," he told him, it was the best he could come up with.

"I can understand that, Tyson can get a little too much to handle sometimes," he said laughing. "Nothing a few, long, hours away can't fix though." Ray smiled.

"Yeah, I guess," he laughed too.

A few minutes later Tyson's grandpa had finished making the burgers, but the other boys still hadn't come to eat. Ray let out a sigh. He figured this whole thing was his fault for getting sucked into Tyson's bet and scaring everyone away saying what he actually felt. He also felt like it was his fault Tyson and his grandpa had been fighting so much lately. If he hadn't sucked Tyson in, knowing he couldn't back down from a challenge, Tyson wouldn't be showing his grandpa how mad he actually got about the things he did and said. Tyson had never really fought with his grandpa before unless it was because he was joking around or really embarrassed. But now it seemed like he was fighting with him every time Ray come over, and Ray felt really bad about it.

Tyson's grandpa let out a sigh as he put the burgers on a plate and set them down on the table Ray was sitting at, beside all the toppings. He took a seat across from Ray and smiled. "Looks like it's just you and me, little dude," he said smiling and handing Ray a paper plate.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ray said with a sigh.

It took only a few short seconds for Ray to pick up the sound of someone trying to be sneaky around the corner of the dojo. Ray ignored it though, if that person didn't want to come out and have a meal with him that was fine. But apparently someone else didn't think it was fine. Ray could hear someone talking now. The voice was one Ray could always recognize, and he'd never forget the owner of. "What are you doing?" the voice asked a little coldly. And then another voice Ray could always recognize spoke. But it wasn't for the same reason he could remember the first one. He could remember this voice because it seemed to annoy him almost every time he heard it. Both voices belonged to his friends.

"I'm waiting for Ray to leave so I can go eat in peace," the second voice said angrily, but a little more quietly.

"Why?" the first voice asked sounding only slightly interested on finding out what was going on.

"Because, I don't want to end up in another fight with him, it's getting ridiculous," the second voice told him.

"Well maybe you should stop starting them than," the first voice told him, but sounded as if he was just putting it out there.

"I'm not starting them, Kai! He is!" the second voice yelled sounding very angry now.

"For some reason I can't seem to believe that, Tyson," Kai said. "Come on."

Ray looked over his shoulder when he heard Kai tell Tyson to come with him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Kai emerging from around the corner holding Tyson's baseball cap. He was yelling at Kai to give it back to him, but Kai didn't seem to be paying any attention. He walked over to the table and took a seat at the end away from everyone, and then threw Tyson's hat at the seat beside his grandpa. Tyson quickly picked it up glaring at Kai, and then at Ray, before taking a seat. Tyson's grandpa smiled at the boys and pushed the burgers and toppings towards them. "About time you dudes showed up," he laughed. "Did you get stuck in traffic or something?"

"I just didn't want to come and risk having another fight with Ray," Tyson mumbled fixing his burger.

"If you don't want to fight, stop starting them," Kai told him without looking at him.

"I told you its Ray's fault!" Tyson yelled. Kai stopped what he was doing and looked up at Tyson, and then a Ray.

"I don't believe you," he told Tyson. Tyson stopped what he was doing too, and looked at Kai.

"Just ask him than, he'll tell you the truth!" Tyson told him slamming the top on his burger, squishing it. Ray swallowed hard.

Kai looked from Tyson to Ray, thinking for a few seconds, before addressing Ray. "Ray, is Tyson telling the truth?" Kai asked him, although he sounded dutiful. Ray swallowed hard again.

"Yeah, I guess, kind of," Ray told him directing his eyes to his empty plate.

"Why are you starting fights?" Kai asked him.

"Because I'm getting a little sick of Tyson and his attitude, so I've just been telling him how I feel and he doesn't like it very much," he told him a little quickly. Kai turned his attention to Tyson again.

"See, it is your fault," Kai told him plainly taking a bite of his burger now and ignoring everyone.

"It is not!" Tyson yelled standing up and slamming his fist down on his second burger.

"Yes it is!" Ray yelled back. "If it wasn't for you and this stupid...thing, we wouldn't be having these arguments!"

"Well maybe it was a good idea I started this 'stupid thing' because now we really know how we feel about each other! I thought we were good friends, but I guess not since you can't stand being around me!" Tyson almost screamed. He grabbed his plate with the squished burger and headed back the way he'd came. "I knew coming here while you were here was a bad idea!" He yelled over his shoulder directing his voice at Kai. Kai didn't seem to care. He didn't even look up as Tyson left. Tyson's grandpa let out a sigh as he grabbed two more burgers and the things to top it with. He told Ray and Kai that Tyson would still be hungry with just the two burgers he'd had, and that he was going to bring more to him. He needed to have a talk with him anyways. Then he stood up, took his plate, and left the boys.

Ray's heart skipped a beat as soon as Tyson's grandpa had turned the corner. He was alone with Kai, like he'd been when they met in the market area, and he was sure Kai had some questions for him. Ray sat there quietly eating his food, waiting for the questions to come, as Kai started on his second burger. When he was done he put his elbows on the table, folded his hands, and placed his chin on them looking at Ray. Ray could feel his icy stare as he tried not to look over at him. His heart was racing and he knew he was starting to look a little shaky. Finally Kai spoke to him. "What's up with you today?" Kai asked him. But before Ray could answer he continued. "First you walk into me at the market, acting like you're crazy, then I hear from you and Tyson that you've been starting fights, and then I actually see you starting one when you could have just let Tyson leave without you having saying anything. You've wrecked your friendship with Tyson, and you've got me questioning your maturity level," he told him, his voice completely neutral.

"I'm just not in a good mood, and Tyson's been making it worse?" Ray told him, but it took the form of a question.

"You don't seem so sure about that," Kai said coldly.

"I'm sure you can figure out why, you're really smart," Ray told him looking up now. Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to give me a hint?" Kai asked him. Ray shook his head. "Hn," Kai said standing up and walking past Ray. "I'll see you later." Ray nodded slowly, and then was left sitting at the table alone.

It got dark quickly and no one else came into the backyard, besides Tyson's grandpa to clean up the food, where Ray was. He'd been sitting with his head down on the table, in deep thought, as he turned Drigger around in his fingers. He helped Tyson's grandpa clean up when he came back, and then was left alone in the yard again to sit by the pond and think some more. Ray figured it was for the best though. If he was around people he'd only end up saying things he didn't want to. He also knew that Tyson was around the house somewhere, avoiding him. He'd heard him walk by quickly a few times, but Ray hadn't turned to look at him to show he'd known he was there.

When Ray finally started getting tired, and cold from the night breeze, he got up from beside the pond and headed towards the front of the dojo. He and the rest of his team usually slept on the floor of the dojo, but Ray had a slight feeling that he'd be the only one there tonight. Tyson had his own room in the house after all, and Max could stay with his dad while Kai could go to his grandpa's old house. Ray was really the only one on his team that had no place to go. But he was happy that even if the other people weren't there that Tyson's grandpa was nice and gave him a place to stay while he was in Japan.

Ray reached the door to the dojo and stopped. He listened closely as he ears picked up voices of people inside. They were talking about something, but the only things he could catch were his and Tyson's names. Ray hesitated as he put his hand on the door before opening it quickly. He didn't want to open it slowly and have the people think he was trying to listen in on them. Ray entered the dojo and smiled as he saw Max and Kai sitting cross legged on the floor talking a little quietly, Max doing most of the talking. There were four seats of blankets and pillows in the room too, which meant that they were expecting Tyson to show up soon as well. Nothing had really changed, except for the fact that it would probably be a slightly awkward night for everyone.

He closed the door behind him, this time making Max and Kai look up at him. Max smiled back at him, while Kai slid back against the wall with his arms crossed. "Hey Maxie, I didn't think you'd come tonight," Ray said walking over and sitting down across from Max, and to the left of Kai, making a sort of half circle.

"Why wouldn't I have a sleepover with my best friends?" Max asked him grinning. Ray shrugged.

"I don't know, you just seemed a little freaked out when you were coming over here at lunch, I guess. And Tyson said he kind of scared you away," he told him. Max rubbed the back of his head.

"Well I guess getting called, you know...cute...by both of you so randomly was a little weird. But it wasn't an insult or anything so I didn't see why I shouldn't come over here," he told him glancing at Kai out of the corner of his eyes. Ray caught it and glanced at Kai too.

"He made you come, didn't he?" Ray asked Max. Max laughed nervously.

"Well he did kind of imply that he wanted me to come over after dinner," he told him looking over at Kai again. Kai sighed.

"I told him that I didn't want to be around you and Tyson fighting, and you acting weird. I need at least one other sane person to talk to if I'm going to be able to force myself to stay here," he told Ray emotionlessly.

"A little straight forward, aren't we?" Ray asked him.

"Aren't I always?" Kai asked him raising an eyebrow.

"I guess you are," Ray said laughing.

"Hn," Kai replied.

The three boys sat in a slightly awkward silence for a few minutes after that. But the dojo door did opened again, and Tyson walked in. He stopped in the doorway for a few seconds, staring at the three people, and then smirked walking in and closing the door. Ray's mood dropped. He knew that smirk meant Tyson had come up with some kind of quick plan, and it probably involved him. Tyson walked over to the pile on blankets and pillows, picking a stack up and walking to the other end of the dojo with it to set it up. The three boys watched him before they decided that that was probably a good idea, and went over too.

Ray walked over to the stack and picked his things up watching Tyson out of the corner of his eye as he continued to smirk at him. Then he spoke, making everyone stop to look at him. "You want to sleep over here by me, Ray?" Tyson asked him seriously. Ray could tell he was now forcing himself to hide his smirk though, since Max and Kai were looking at him too.

"Not really?" Ray said in the form of a question, raising his eyebrow.

"Why?" Tyson asked him. Ray understood what Tyson was trying to do, and he didn't know how he could avoid falling into another trap of Tyson's without losing the bet. Not with the sentences that were automatically popping into his head, and no time to think.

"I'd just rather not," Ray told him trying to dismiss the conversation, but Tyson wouldn't let him.

"Where are you planning to sleep than?" Tyson asked him.

"Why do you want to know? So you can come over beside me? No thank you," Ray said turning to find a place to sleep, but Tyson kept going.

"Well the only way I'm not going to come sleep by you is if you sleep by Kai," Tyson told him slyly. Ray turned a little pink. He knew this was coming.

"Well I guess I'll have to sleep there then," Ray told him, cursing himself.

"No you're not," Kai told Ray walking over to a corner and setting his bed up. Ray bit his lip.

"Better hurry up and set your bed up, Ray, so I can come over there," Tyson said holding back a laugh. Ray turned to Kai.

"Kai please, you don't want to listen to us fighting all night, do you?" Ray asked him.

"Hn," Kai answered crawling under his blanket and facing the wall.

"Please Kai!" Ray almost yelled.

"Whatever, if it'll get you to be quiet," Kai told him. Ray went quickly over to him.

He set up his bed a little ways away from him, so there was only room for half a person between them, before crawling under the blankets with his back to Kai. He looked across the room at Tyson who was now smirking while Max set up his bed away from everyone. "I bet you would have slept close to Kai even if I wouldn't have said anything. You just wouldn't have asked him," Tyson said a little loudly now that they were farther away from each other.

"What do you mean?" Ray asked him, cursing himself again for pushing Tyson to keep going.

"You know exactly what I mean," Tyson said. Ray turned a little redder. "Or you can tell me what you think I'm referring to," Tyson added. Ray opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a voice coming from behind him.

"Tyson shut up and go to sleep. I let Ray sleep over here so there wouldn't be fighting," Kai said coldly. "Ray turned around and don't pay attention to him. If he wants to talk he can talk to Max." Ray took a deep breath and rolled over to face Kai's back. "Nothing's changed, it's still like taking care a bunch of kids." He caught Kai mumbled, and Ray let out a sad sigh.


	5. Water

It was a few hours before Ray decided he wouldn't be able to get any sleep. He was constantly moving around under the blankets, and he just couldn't find a place that was comfortable for more than a few minutes. He soon let out a sigh of defeat and sat up looking around the dojo. Tyson was now lying at the other end of the room with his back to him while Max still slept alone in the other corner. Ray glanced over at Kai lying beside him. He was unmoving, besides his breathing, and Ray thought he looked very nice in peaceful. He watched Kai for a few more seconds before making himself peel his eyes away. Ray then got out from under his blankets slowly and quietly. He stood up folding his blanket neatly and placing his pillow on it before sliding his shirt on, which he'd taken off after Tyson had calmed down and he thought he could finally get some sleep. Ray then went quickly and quietly to the dojo door. He opened it slowly, so it wouldn't make much noise, and stepped out of the dojo slipping on his shoes and closing the door again slowly.

Ray stood at the dojo's door for a few seconds breathing in the chilly night air. It felt nice in his lungs. He turned and took a few steps away from the door before stopping again and looking up into the clear night sky. The stars were shining brightly making up pictures, the consolations, on a nice dark blue background with the beautifully big moon completing the scene. Ray shivered slightly as a breeze swept by him and snapped him out of his gaze. He crossed his arms and stared walking away from the dojo again. He didn't know where he was going. All he knew was that he needed to get away from this place where he didn't really feel wanted at the moment.

He walked for a few minutes just following the road before sleep started to get to him. It seemed the night stroll had done the trick. But he didn't want to go back to the dojo. Instead he just kept walking to the only other place that he thought was really safe to sleep, even if it was still outside. Ray walked along the road until he got to the river. He took the path down the hill and walked along the riverbank towards the bridge. He let out a soft sigh when he got under the bridge, and walked over to the wall, sitting down beside a crate. Ray brought his knees up to this chest and held them letting out a yawn. He didn't really care that he was on the dirt, or outside, because for some reason he felt more comfortable now than he had in the dojo with his friends. Ray leaned against the crate and shut his eyes. At least he was hidden a little bit from view by the bridge and crate.

Ray let out a groan as he was woken by a poking in his side. It was irritating and hurt, meaning it had probably been happening for a while. He felt stiff and sore all over from the way he'd slept, and he was still a little tired. From what he could tell, as he became a little more awake, it was still fairly dark out, which meant he hadn't been sleeping long. Ray opened his eyes fully, blinking a few times, before trying to figure out what was still poking him in the side.

When Ray looked over to the side of him that wasn't against the crate he had to blink a few more times to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. He couldn't believe there was actually a person sitting beside him, who was now giving him a strange look. "I didn't get killed in the night and sent to Nirvana, did I?" Ray asked in a whisper, without realizing it.

"What are you talking about?" Kai asked him in a confused tone. "You're not still half asleep are you?" Ray went a little wide-eyed realizing that Kai had heard him.

"Wait, what? No I'm awake, at least I hope I am," Ray told him laughing nervously. Kai raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing here anyways?" Ray asked shifting a little, with a quiet groan, so he was sitting up.

"I went for a walk," Kai said standing up.

"That doesn't tell me why you're here, or why you were poking me," he said. Usually he wouldn't question Kai, and would just take the first thing he said as his answer, but the bet between him and Tyson wasn't over and he knew that Kenny might be sleeping right now, but Dizzy could still monitor him.

"Does is really matter?" Kai asked him crossing his arms.

"Kind of," Ray told him looking away. He didn't want to keep pestering Kai like this, but he didn't really have a say in the matter.

"I saw you sitting here while I was on my walk and decided that I might as well wake you up," Kai told him a little coldly. "Now why don't you tell me why you were sleeping out here?"

Ray bit his lip, and looked back at Kai as he spoke. "Well I didn't really feel welcome back at the dojo, and I couldn't fall asleep so I came out here. Why does it matter? You didn't really want me sleeping in there by you anyways," Ray said cursing the bet. Normally he would have come up with some quick and believable lie. Kai didn't need, or want, to know about his personal feelings anyways.

"That's not the only reason, is it?" Kai asked. Ray had no idea why Kai was continuing with this topic, and it was making him a little annoyed.

"I heard you say you were still babysitting a bunch of kids and it hurt my feelings a little?" Ray told him in the form of a question so it sounded like he was just trying to find another reason for him, even if it was true.

"Hn," Kai answered looking away from Ray towards the road. "Are you coming back with me?"

"No, I'm still tired and I won't be able to get any sleep back at the dojo. I'm going to go take a nap on the grass," he said forcing himself to stand slowly. Kai watched him out of the corner of his eye, and then turned his back on him.

"I'll be back here in a few hours," Kai told him starting to walk away, but then stopped as if deciding on something. "You're still acting a little strange, care to tell me why?" he asked looking over his shoulder at Ray. Ray shook his head.

"Not really," he told him with a chuckle.

"Hn," Kai said, and headed away from Ray again.

The sun shining brightly onto his face woke Ray this time. He let out a groan and sat up on the grass hill blinking and looking around. The area around him was still deserted, and now he was wondering what time it actually was. He let out a sight lying back on the grass with his arms under his head. He wasn't stiff or really sore anymore. Stretching out on the grass to sleep had really helped with that, like he'd suspected it would.

He lay there quietly just looking up at the almost cloudless sky and breathing. It seemed like a few more minutes before a shadow went across Ray's face, and he let out a sigh. He sat up slowly and turned to face Kai standing higher on the hill with his arms crossed. "Here already?" Ray asked him laughing a little. Kai didn't seem to find it funny though.

"Come with me," he said a little annoyed.

"I don't want to go back to Tyson's though," Ray told him not being able to hide the slight hint of a whine in his voice.

"Stop acting like a little kid and come with me. You're going back to Tyson's. It's almost lunch and Max and Tyson have been worrying about you all morning, bugging me to go find you for them," Kai told him a little coldly.

"So you didn't worry about me when you first woke up this morning?" Ray asked him, but he wished he didn't have to. Kai didn't answer him. He just turned his back on him, told him to come one more time, and headed up to the road. Ray sat in the grass for a few seconds before scrambling to his feet and walking quickly to catch up to Kai.

Ray and Kai walked silently back to the dojo. Kai had made Ray walk in front of him a bit so he could keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't run off again. Ray didn't like this idea very much. It made him feel like Kai really was his babysitter, but he didn't complain about it. He didn't need Tyson _and_ Kai mad at him.

They reached the dojo quickly, Kai having made Ray walk fast, and headed to the backyard. When they entered the yard Ray was hit by a surprise, a very wet surprise right in the face. Ray blinked as he whipped the water, which was now dripping down his face and bangs, with his sleeve. But as soon as he lowered his arm he was hit again, right in the chest. Ray glared at the person standing a little ways away from him. Tyson was standing there, glaring at him and holding a garden hose. "What was that for?" Ray asked a little angrily glancing over at Max who was behind Tyson, holding back giggles. Tyson squeeze the trigger on the garden hose head again for a few seconds this time, squirting Ray's chest again.

"Because you just disappeared without telling us where you were going or anything," Tyson told him sounding a little angry.

"Tyson, give me that hose," Ray said bitterly taking a step forward.

"No, bad cat," Tyson said squirting Ray again. Ray took another step forward. "I said bad cat!" Tyson yelled. "Stay back!" He squirted Ray again, in the face this time. Ray glared at him.

"Stop that!" He yelled, and didn't even manage to take a step when Tyson squirted him this time.

"You're being a very bad cat. I'm not going to stop until you behave yourself!" Tyson yelled squirting Ray just for the fun of it this time. Ray smiled sweetly.

"Oh, well that's too bad, because I'm one of those cats that actually likes the water," he told him as he took a step forward. He was very close to Tyson now.

"Are you really?" Tyson asked pulling down on the hose trigger and holding it. He moved the water quickly over all of Ray, and then let go when he looked almost soaked. Ray continued to smile sweetly at Tyson.

"Ok, now it's your turned," Ray told him reaching for the hose, but Tyson took a few steps back and held the hose away from him.

"No thanks, I don't feel like getting wet right now," Tyson told him smiling sweetly back. Ray changed to a glare.

"Tyson, give me that hose!" Ray yelled lunging at him. Tyson laughed dodging him.

"You'll have to catch me first!" he yelled bolting down the yard. Ray let out a little growl. He then started to run after Tyson, pulling off his wet shirt, when he noticed it was heavy and slowing him down, and his wet head band.

Kai leaned against the wall ignoring the two boys having a water fight. He was now occupying himself with the clouds floating by in the sky, trying to ignore Ray every time he ran past him. Soon Kai heard someone coming up beside him. He turned to see Max grinning at him. "What?" Kai asked him cautiously. Max shrugged.

"I don't know," he said nudging Kai with his elbow, still grinning, and looked towards Ray, out of the corner of his eye, as he ran by. He was now chasing Tyson with the hose.

"Shut up," Kai said little coldly turning an unnoticeable shade of pink. Max laughed.

"I didn't say anything though," he said watching again as Ray and Tyson ran by.

"Don't make me push you into the pond," Kai growled.

"I didn't say anything!" Max yelled, jokingly, making Ray and Tyson stop to look at them.

Tyson and Ray were both soaking wet. Tyson had taken off his hat and jacket, and was watching Ray out of the corner of his eye. Ray was still in possession of the garden hose, and he had it pointed at Tyson. Max and Kai looked at the two boys, giving them questioning looks, before Ray turned the hose on them. "I think they look a little too nice and dry," Ray said looking over at Tyson. Tyson nodded.

"I agree," he smiled, pulling off his soaked shirt and throwing it to the side. It had final started to bug him. Kai smirked inwardly as he glanced at Max elbowing him. Max glared at Kai, but then smiled looking at Ray

"I think Ray's too much of a chicken to squirt Kai first!" he yelled laughing. "I know he can, and will, get me with the water. But he doesn't have the guts to get Kai!"

"You really think so?" Ray asked him, smirking as he turned the hose fully on Kai.

"Ray, if you get me wet you will have hell to pay," Kai said glaring at him.

"You're bluffing," Ray laughed squeezing the trigger so some water came out, but not enough to reach Kai.

"No, I'm really not," he growled.

"You won't hit him with the water, I know you won't!" Max yelled trying to push Ray to do it.

"If he won't do it I will!" Tyson yelled walking over to Ray, trying to take the hose from. Ray turn and pulled the trigger all the way backing away from Tyson.

"I will so do it!" Ray yelled turning the water from Tyson to Kai laughing, hitting Max in the process.

Ray let the trigger go, and all three boys looked at him angrily. Max had only gotten a light wet, but Kai was now soaked. Kai uncrossed his arms and moved away from the wall. He started to walk towards Ray with his hand out screeched. "Give me that garden hose, you two are done acting like kids," Kai said coldly. Ray took a few steps back shaking his head.

"You need to lighten up," he told him pulling the trigger again, stopping Kai in his tracks.

"That's it, Ray, you're dead!" Kai yelled running towards Ray, throwing off his soaking wet shirt. Ray laughed and turned running away from him, shooting the hose over his shoulder.

Max moved slowly away from the three soaking wet boys. He'd managed to stay relatively dry and get Kai to have a little fun. He wanted to keep it that way. Max inched away from the dojo towards the cement wall. He felt relatively safe from the line of fire over here. The ground was still dry, unlike the part of the yard Tyson and Ray had been running around on. "I wouldn't stand there if I were you," said a voice from beside Max. Max tore his eyes away from the water fight/chase scene between Kai and Ray, and looked over at Tyson.

"Why?" he asked trying to keep all his focus on Tyson's face. Tyson shrugged.

"I don't know," he said getting closer to Max. Max swallowed hard. "Maybe because of this," Tyson said in a quieter voice. Max gave him a confused look before he realized Tyson had pushed him and he was now falling backwards. Max let out a little yelp as he hit the small pond with a splash, getting completely soaked. Tyson laughed looking down at him and grinning. "Now you're not being left out, Maxie," he said before turning to walk away.

"Tyson, don't you walk away from me!" Max yelled as he sprang up from the pond, grabbing the back of Tyson's jeans and pulling him backwards into the pond beside him. Tyson hit the water with a slightly bigger splash and glared at Max's grinning face.

"Why'd you do that?" Tyson yelled splashing him. Max didn't answer he just laughed and splashed Tyson back.

The water fight went on for the rest of the afternoon making the four boys completely forget about lunch. Tyson's grandpa had come out at one point to remind them, and ask what they wanted, but his only reply was a squirt in the face, with the garden hose, by a shirtless Max. He decided, at that point, to just go into the house and hide until the boys were done. When the boys had finally gotten tired, and felt they were wet enough, they put the garden hose away and found a patch of the yard by the cement wall that, unbelievably, wasn't wet, and sat down taking off their shoes and socks.

The sun was going to start to set soon, which meant there wasn't really light to dry off in, so the four boys just sat with their backs against the wall, Tyson and Ray twisting the water out of their hair. "Thanks a lot guy, my hair looks horrible now," Max whined, although he was joking, as he tried to fix it, only making it worse in his opinion.

"No it doesn't," Ray and Tyson said at the same time. They looked at each other, and Max and Kai stared at them. After a few seconds Max broke the slightly awkward silence with a forced laugh.

"Thanks guys, but it probably really does look bad," he told them, not having the ability to actually see his hair since he didn't have anything to look at his reflection in. Ray was about to answer again, but instead just looked away from Max and leaned back. He was going to let Tyson talk to Max alone and see what happened.

"It actually looks kind of cute," Tyson told Max a little nervously. Ray smirked to himself.

"So guess that means I'm cuter than I was when I was dry?" Max asked, letting out another fake laugh.

"Yeah, kind of," Tyson told him. Ray could see him shrinking against the wall.

"Um, thanks?" Max said in the form of a question. He seemed to be a little uncomfortable.

The boys sat in silence for the next few minutes as they dried off slowly. The first one to get up way Kai, he stood up and started to head over to the house, when Tyson called out and stopped him. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked sitting up from leaning on the wall.

"To make sure your grandfather is ok. He did get hit in the face with water by Max," Kai told him as he tuned to look at him. Ray sat against the wall with one eye barely open, looking at him, and Max looked down at the grass a little ashamed.

"I'll go check on him myself," Tyson told Kai, standing up. "He's my grandpa, and he doesn't need to see a shirtless Kai. He'd tell me I need to work out more or something."

"Well maybe he'd be right," Kai said poking Tyson's flat stomach.

"Just because I don't have abs starting doesn't mean I need to work out more!" Tyson yelled at him.

"Hn," Kai replied walking back over to his spot by Max against the wall, Tyson glaring at him as he went.

"And what are you looking at Ray? I can see your eye open!" Tyson said rather loudly before walking over to the house.

Ray closed his eye quickly and brought his knees up to his chest to rest his head on. But he realized that his pants were still fairly wet, and lowered his knees with a sigh leaning back against the wall. "You ok Ray?" Max asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Ray asked forcing a laugh. Max shrugged.

"You've just been acting a little off lately," he told him. "Same with Tyson," he added after a few seconds. "What's going on with you two?"

"What do you mean?" Ray asked him raising an eyebrow slightly. Max shrugged.

"I don't know you two have just been fighting lots. And then all of a sudden last night Tyson wants to sleep beside you, then you disappear, then you guys start this huge water fight, and then Tyson acts like he's mad at you before he leaves and now you seem a little down. So I was just wondering what's up with you guys," he told Ray innocently. Ray forced a smile.

"Nothing's up with us," he told him, glancing over at Kai who seemed to be in deep thought. "I guess you're just catching us at bad times." Ray looked back at Max, who seemed a little less concerned, and the saw Kai move to look over at him.

"Well with all the fighting and stuff going on it's a little hard to figure you two out," Kai said plainly. Ray raised an eyebrow at him questioning what he meant by figuring him and Tyson out. "So, what _do_ you think of Tyson?" Kai asked. "I've heard you call him many things in the past two days."

Ray looked over at Kai and laughed nervously. "What is this, a two on one thing now? You both just deicide that you want to gang up on me?" he asked.

"Hn," Kai answered as Max frowned a little.

"That's the same question Tyson asked me yesterday, by the way," Ray told them forcing a smile. Neither of them said anything. Ray sighed. "My answers still the same one I gave Tyson yesterday. He's an annoying slob," he told them.

"You actually told him that?" Max asked looking at him wide-eyed.

"Yeah, he was bugging me so I just told him what he wanted to know," Ray said shrugging. "But I guess he's also funny and a good friend."

"What do you think of Max?" Kai asked. Max looked from Ray over to Kai and gave him a look that made Kai shrug slightly. When Max looked back at Ray he was a little pinker.

"Why does it matter?" Ray asked him.

"Well I want to know now too, after what you said about Tyson," Max told him frowning.

"Well I think you're funny and a good friend," Ray told him. "And cute, but you can be annoying sometimes too, just not as bad as Tyson." Max laughed for real this time.

"Oh wow, only one bad thing? Thanks Ray," he said rubbing the back of his head and turning a little pinker. "What about Kai?"

"What about him?" Ray asked quickly his heart starting to race.

"Well you said what you thought about me and Tyson. You should do Kai now," Max said shrugging. Ray bit his lip.

"Since you seem to be in a sharing mood," Kai added crossing his arms. Ray opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by a very loud shout, which drew Max and Kai's attention away from him. Ray let out a sigh of relief and looked in the direction of the yell too.

"Guys get in here! Grandpa wants us to come inside for a bit so we don't catch colds!" Tyson yelled from his house's front door. Ray got up quickly.

"Come on guys," he said racing off feeling as if he'd just dodged a bullet, and would actually need to thank Tyson later. Even if he knew it would make him mad that he unknowingly got him out of a potentially bet losing situation. He entered the Tyson's house, and then waited for Max and Kai who were coming slowly behind.


	6. Video Games

Ray let out a happy sigh as he sat down in front of a fire Tyson's grandpa had made for him and the others to dry off by. They were all wrapped in large blankets, having had to take off their clothing and put on new underwear to dry, and were drinking steaming cups of hot chocolate. The room was quieter than it usually would be with the four boys together. They were all thinking about the past two days, and didn't really know what to say to each other.

The silence lasted a long time, while everyone enjoyed their drinks, and it wasn't until Tyson broke the silence, having fished his drink first, that things got a little back to normal. "This is so boring!" Tyson yelled, standing up and letting the blanket fall off him to reveal his boxers. He didn't seem to care though, because he didn't pick the blanket up. Instead he kicked it aside and walked back towards the kitchen to put his glass away. Ray watched Tyson for a few seconds, noticing Max staring at Tyson. A smirk crossed Ray's face, and he saw Kai nudge him, making him look away from Tyson quickly and stare down into his cup.

Tyson came back a few minutes later. The room was still strangely quiet, but the other three boys had finished their drinks and were now just looking at the fire. They looked up at Tyson when he came back in, still in only boxers. He was holding a bowl of chips which had four cans of pop on top of it. Kai and Ray looked up at him with questioning expressions as Max looked back at the fire quickly. "I'm bored, so we're going to go do something fun now. We're warmed up enough," Tyson told them.

"What could there possibly be to do at your house?" Ray asked him.

"Play video games in my room obviously," he told him. "So hurry up! Get up and let's go!"

Kai and Ray stayed where they were staring at Tyson, Max looking up at him too now. Tyson let out a slightly angry sigh and looked down at Max, grabbing at his arm. "You like video games right? You do have some back at your mom's house, don't you my Maxie?" he asked.

"Yeah...?" Max told him, not able to say much to the boy who was now standing in front of him.

"Well then come on, get up!" Tyson demanded, yanking on his arm. Max got up, holding the blanket around him tightly, and followed Tyson. He looked behind him at Kia and Ray, giving them pleading looks, and Ray couldn't help up stand up and go to follow them gripping his blanket tightly too.

"Are you coming?" Ray asked Kai, who was still sitting and staring at the fire.

"Do you want me to come?" he asked.

"Of course I do," Ray told him a little shocked that Kai would even ask a question like that, or be concerned with what he wanted. Kai sat still for a few more seconds before looking up at Ray.

"Fine," he said standing up, letting his blanket hang loosely around him. Ray stared at him for a few more seconds than needed, and then turned around quickly, running slightly to catch up to Tyson and Max.

The four boys got to Tyson's room, and Tyson put the snacks down on his bed before going over to where his games were. Max sat down on the bed and slid back to the wall, taking the chips and a can of pop with him as he concentrated on looking at the blank TV screen. Ray raised an eyebrow at him as he reached across the bed and pulled the chips back to the middle of it so he could reach from where he'd chosen to sit on the floor. Tyson looked back at his friends once he'd turned the gaming console on. "I only have two controllers, and since me and Max got here first we get to play first," he told them, tossing a controller to Max. Ray just shrugged, and Kai didn't even respond as he sat down beside Ray on the floor.

"Can we play a racing game?" Max asked Tyson as he picked the controller up, causing his blanket to slide down.

"Only if you promise not to get mad when I beat you," Tyson told him, laughing and putting a game in before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I don't have to make that promise because I'll be the one beating you," Max laughed.

"You can't beat me! I've played the tracks on this game over a hundred times!" Tyson told him.

"That's what you think," Max told him, smiling. "I bet I can beat you on the hardest track."

"Oh, it's on now Maxie!" Tyson said happily, flipping through the list of tracks and choosing the hardest one in the game, that he could think of. Tyson and Max then chose their cars and they were off.

The mood in the room changed drastically when the race between the two was done. Tyson was slightly upset, but still in a way better mood than by the fire, when Max ended up beating him, although the win wasn't by much. Max was extremely happy and challenging Ray and Kai to a race each, saying he'd go easy on them. Ray was determined to beat Max in at least one race, and even Kai wanted to test his skill by playing the winner of Ray and Max's match. It was almost like when they were having the water fight. All having fun and fooling around, like nothing at all was wrong. Although, Max and Kai did give Ray and Tyson strange looks or go quiet when they started to say things that weren't like them.

The time pasted and Max kept winning his matches, in four the different racing games that Tyson owned. The matches kept going around in a circle, Tyson, Ray, and Kai taking turns racing Max, and soon Kai was on his fifth try. They were closer in this race than the other four, Kai having gotten better in every match, and it looked like Kai had a chance to win. Ray looked away from the screen, thinking of a way to finally have someone else win. And then it came to him. "Hey Maxie?" he asked.

"Yeah Ray?" Max replied as he concentrated on the game.

"Are those bunnies on your boxers?" he asked, causing Tyson to look over at Max.

Max instantly turned pink and looked down. "Ray!" he yelled dropping his controller and pulling the blanket that had slid off him over top his legs. There was a noise from the racing game, and Max, Tyson, and Ray looked up to see that Kai had won. "That was cheating!" Max yelled accusingly.

"No it wasn't!" Ray yelled. "You didn't have to freak out, I was just asking. It's not like we care." Max turned redder.

"I'd be quiet if I was you Ray, someone might mention the kitties on your boxers," said Kai almost teasingly. Now it was Ray's turn to go pink and hide his boxers with a blanket. Tyson laughed.

"Some men you two are," he said reaching for the controller from Kai.

"I won Tyson, it's time for Max to give up his controller," Kai told him.

"Oh right," Tyson grinned leaning over to Max. "Give it over bunny boy." Max glared slightly at Tyson and passed him the controller. "Alright Kai, let see how good you really are," he said. Kai let out a little chuckle, and the racing started up again.

When the race was over Kai had won, making Max and Ray turn and laugh at Tyson. His boasting about how good he was, but losing to Max and Kai, was just too good a chance to tease him to pass up. "I thought you said you were good at this game," Ray said as Tyson crossed his arms and glared at them.

"I am good!" he yelled. "I'm just having an off day! I could so beat you Ray!"

"I'd like to see you try," Ray told him smirking. Tyson glared at him before picking up his controller and looking at Kia.

"Give the controller to Ray, Kai, I want to prove that I can beat him!" he yelled. Kai handed the controller to Ray without looking at him.

"Well of course you can beat him. He grew up in a place with no technology. It's surprising he's as good as he is," Kai told Tyson.

"Hey! Are you doubting my ability to beat you guys?" Ray asked, not actually looking for an answer. "Because if you are I'd be more than happy to beat you after I beat Tyson." Kai smirked at Ray.

"You sound a little over confident," Kai told him, giving a chuckle as Ray and Tyson started picking cars and a track. "But I'll accept that challenge, if you do actually beat Tyson."

"I will beat him," Ray told him.

"Fat chance of that happening, nature boy," Tyson said starting the race.

It turned out that Tyson, even with all his confidence in winning, was the worst at playing racing games out of the four boys. He lost to Ray by a lot, almost as much as when he was racing Max. With an angry sigh he got up off the bed, took the empty chip bowl and pop cans, and left the room handing Kai the controller on the way out. Now it was Kai and Ray's turn to race.

The race ended with Kai winning. Ray somehow knew Kai would beat him. When they started the race it had felt like something was telling him to lose, and even though he didn't want to lose something was making him mess up on turns and more than he usually would. When the race was over, and Kai had won, he asked Max if he wanted to play again to see who was better now that he was warmed up. Max laughed at Kai's excuse for losing to him the first few times, but accepted and Ray reached across the bed handing over the controller.

Max reached over for the controller, but stopped staring at Ray's upper arm. "What's that from?" he asked moving his hand from the controller and pointing at a weird looking line on Ray's upper arm.

"Nothing," Ray said quickly looking away from Max over to his arm, and then let go of the controller moving the blanket in his lap so it covered his arm too.

Kai looked over to Max and Ray quickly when Max spoke to Ray. He caught a glimpse of what Ray was trying to hide as the blanket went over his arm. He looked back at Max raising an eyebrow slightly, and Max shrugged his shoulders grabbing the controller and leaning back against the wall. Kai turned back to Ray, who was now fidgeting with the blanket and acting like he was avoiding eye contact. "Ray?" he asked in a neutral tone. Ray looked up at him with a question look. "What's on your arm?"

"A scar," he told him, looking away again.

There was a short pause between everyone before Max slid down the wall a little, kicking Kai lightly on the upper shoulder. Kai looked over at him, and he motioned to Ray. Kai gave Max a slight glare, but looked back at Ray and pulled the blanket down his arm a little to see the weird shaped line better. "Where'd you get it from?" he asked. Ray looked up at him and moved away slightly pulling the blanket back up.

"My match against Bryan," he told him sounding a little nervous. Kai didn't say anything as he got a sad look on his face and glanced at Max while on his way to looking back at the TV.

"Come on, let's get this race started!" Max said a little over enthusiastically. Ray gave him a look. He grinned at him, choosing a car and track quickly to get the race started before anything else happened.

Half way through the race Ray couldn't take the new sadder mood in the room. He stood up, holding his blanket tightly around himself, and left. On his way down the hall he met Tyson carrying some more pop and snacks. "Where are you going?" Tyson asked him.

"I'm going to the bathroom, and then I'm going to go back to the fire," Ray told him, trying to push past. Tyson stopped him.

"Why, what happened?" he asked sounding concerned for the first time since their bet started.

"Max pointed out a scar on my arm and Kai asked about it, so I told him where I got it and the mood in the room just went down," Ray told him, getting past Tyson successfully this time. "I hate this stupid bet." Tyson heard him mumble as he headed down the hall.

Tyson entered his bedroom to see an angry looking Kai, and an extremely happy looking Max. He handed them both their drinks, and put the snacks down on the bed where the chips had been before. "So I guess that means Max beat you again?" Tyson asked Kai. He didn't answer, so Max did from him.

"Yeah I did! It was an awesome race though! He almost had me this time! That was the closest race I've had in forever!" he told Tyson as he dived for the snacks.

"What about Ray, did you beat him?" Tyson asked, still addressing Kai.

"Hn," Kai answered opening his pop and drinking it.

"Yeah, he beat Ray too! Once he gets a little more practise I won't be the best racer anymore," Max told Tyson, sounding a little worried on the last few words.

Kai stood up, draping his blanket around himself, and handing Tyson his controller. "Where are you going, Mr. Sour puss?" Tyson asked him.

"Walk," Kai told him heading for the door.

"I wouldn't go outside for a walk if I were you, unless you're planning to walk around out there in your underwear! The clothes aren't dry yet, I checked!" Tyson yelled at him quickly as he started to close the door.

"I'll keep that in mind," he mumbled, closing the door.

"Come on Maxie! Let's play a shooting game now!" Tyson said quickly, to avoid having to race Max again, as he went over to his game shelf.

"But I suck at those ones!" Max complained, getting up and going over to look at the games too.

"That's a good thing for my than, you can't be winning everything we play!" Tyson told him, pushing him a little and grabbing a game to put in the machine.


	7. Wishes Do Come True

Ray did as he told Tyson and went to the bathroom before going back downstairs to where the fireplace was. The house was quiet at this end. Tyson's bedroom was a little ways away from the living area, so Ray knew whatever noise was going on over there he wouldn't be able to hear. Tyson's grandpa wasn't anywhere to be seen on Ray's journey down the halls. Ray had even checked the kitchen and looked through the door a little into the backyard for him, so he'd have a little company, but he wasn't anywhere he looked. Ray sighed. He knew Tyson's grandpa was probably hiding out in his dojo now that it was empty and quite.

The living area seemed a little dark and uninviting without the other boy's in the room. It was lit only by the closed off fireplace, because the lights had been turned off, and there were a few pillows on the floor with a small table for having tea. Ray kept the light in the room off and moved over to by the fireplace. He sat down and let the blanket fall off of him as he looked over the scar on his arm that he'd been hiding from his friends ever since his match against Bryan.

The scar was jagged and looked like it had been a deep cut. It hadn't really disappeared that well, and was still easy to see. It was a light purple color and felt smoother than the skin around it. Ray had a few other scars on his body from that match, but they weren't as easily noticed. They were smaller and looked way more faded. Most of them were on his sides and there were a few on his back. He hated looking at them. They reminded him of how horrible that battle was, and how he'd landed in the hospital.

Ray reached up to his head band and fiddled with it a little bit. It was damp, but he knew he couldn't take it off to dry, like Tyson couldn't take off his hat. If he did it might wreck how Kenny had set up the wireless microphone. He wasn't even sure if the microphones were still working after getting wet, but he supposed if they weren't Kenny would have contacted him and Tyson by now.

Suddenly, Ray heard a noise from outside the room and covered himself quickly with the blanket. He looked towards the door and saw the shadow of someone coming towards him. When the shadow was close enough it was lit up by the light of the fire to reveal Kai. He was standing beside Ray with his blanket hanging over his shoulders, and was looking down at him a little disappointedly. There was a slight pause before Kai sat down beside Ray, not saying anything and just looking towards the fire.

In Tyson's room there was a lot of yelling going on, though the two boys who'd left the room only moments earlier couldn't hear it. Tyson and Max were all ready on their second match on the shooting game Tyson had chosen. The first match had been a first to five and Tyson had won in a matter of seconds. Max had complained that Tyson had cheated, because he was still getting use to the controls, so Tyson had agreed to a redo and waited until Max was ready this time. When he was ready, Tyson still beat him in a few seconds and Max ended up complaining about Tyson being too good at the game to be playing against him. Tyson didn't agree with this though, and said that by Max losing to him it was actually giving him practise so he'd get better. Max didn't like this idea, and so their yelling match began.

After a few minutes Tyson dropped his controller and stared at a now yelling and pouting Max. When Max was done Tyson sat there for a few seconds, until Max directed his glare away from him, and then leapt across the bed at him. "I'm sick of your complaining, I didn't complain like this when I kept losing in racing," Tyson told him sternly as he knocked him over and pinned him to the bed. Max didn't answer Tyson. He just squirmed underneath him trying to get his wrists out of Tyson's grip. "Stop moving Max!" Tyson yelled, now struggling to keep a good grip.

"No, get off me!" Max yelled back trying to use his legs to help get Tyson off him.

"Stop it," Tyson said falling on top of Max so he couldn't get his legs up, or his feet between them. Max stared turning a noticeable shade of pink. "What's wrong Maxie?" Tyson asked in a confused tone and slightly teasing tone, raising an eyebrow.

"N-Nothing just got off," Max said looking away from him. Tyson smirked a little.

"I don't feel like it," he told him. Max looked back glaring.

"Tyson if you don't get off of me I'm going to do the only thing I can do to get you off and you probably won't like it," he told him as sternly as he could. Tyson just grinned.

"I won't believe you have the guts to do anything until you do it," he said.

Ray and Kai sat in the soothing noise of the crackling fire for a few minutes before anyone spoke. Ray didn't want to speak first. He was scared if he just started to suddenly try and explain himself without actual guidelines on what needed explaining that everything would come pouring out and things would be even more confusing. So he waited. If Kai wanted to talk to him, or have things answered, than he'd have to make the move to start.

Kai looked over to Ray, and Ray glanced over at him through the corner of his eyes. "Why'd you leave Tyson's room?" he asked finally. Realising that this was going to be made hard on him, and he'd actually have to ask Ray things instead of just expecting him to know what he wanted answered.

"Why'd you leave?" Ray asked him. The question popping into his head before the answer to Kai's question did.

"Because you said you wanted me there, so why should I stay if you're not?" he asked, and then made a motion to show that it was Ray's turn to answer.

"I guess I left because I couldn't handle the mood in the room changing because of me," he told him a hint of sadness in his voice. Kai raised an eyebrow questioningly at him, and Ray sighed. "I let you guys see my scar, and then you got depressed," he told him. "That's a drastic change in mood."

"Well it's not a very happy thing, being reminded of something bad that happened, because of you, to a person you care about," Kai told him in an almost mumbled.

Ray looked up at Kai, staring for a few seconds before Kai raised an eyebrow at him and spoke again. "You're my team mate, and you getting hurt was my fault for leaving the team and going back to my old one because of power," he told him. Ray frowned slightly.

"Oh," he said sounding disappointed. "It's not your fault at all though. You had nothing to do with what they did to that team. You were more of a victim than anything." Kai shook his head, and moved a little closer to Ray.

"I'm still sorry," he told him.

"You don't have to be," Ray replied. Kai put a hand on Ray's blanket and started to slide it down again.

"Well I am," he told him. Ray looked back up and grabbed the blanket so Kai wouldn't pull it down anymore, giving him a questioning look as his heart started to race. "I want to see it," Kai told him. Ray bit his lip and let go to the blanket hesitantly, letting Kai slide it down.

The two of them sat there for a few seconds in silence as Kai's expression turned to a frown and he ran his finger over the scar on Ray's arm. "Do you have any other ones?" he asked suddenly.

"A few more," Ray told him. Kai looked up at him, and Ray turned so his back was facing Kai slightly. Kai's expression didn't change as he looked over the faded scars on Ray's back. Ray even showed him the ones on his sides, having to pull his boxer's down a little for some of them, because Kai insisted on seeing them all. Ray didn't know why Kai wanted to see them when they seemed to make him sad, and even angry with himself. He looked almost like Ray felt every time he had to look at them.

When Ray had shown Kai all of them Kai shook his head. "I'm sorry," he told Ray again.

"It's not your fault," Ray told him, wondering why he kept blaming himself. Kai took a deep breath and the room was silent again for a few seconds. He moved slightly away from Ray, but not by much, and looked him in the eyes as if trying to read their expression or looking for some sign.

"Ray?" he asked. Ray looked at him, giving him questioning look. "What were you going to say about me outside earlier?"

Ray turned a pink that was hard to see in the fire lit room. His heart began to race and butterflies burst into flight at the thought of telling Kia what he actually though about him. He took a deep breath. "I was going to say that you're a really great, good looking guy, and I have no negative thoughts about you," Ray told him a little quickly, making it, once again, hard to understand.

"Excuse me? I can't understand you if you talk that fast," Kai told him. "You don't have to worry about saying bad things about me, if that's what this is about. I know what you guys think of me, and what you say behind my back. I don't care." Ray smiled weakly at Kai.

"It wasn't anything bad," he told him fidgeting with his blanket. "I'm just scared of you having a bad reaction to something good."

"What if I promise I won't have a negative reaction, no matter what you say?" Kai asked him. "Just be completely honest with me." Ray nodded and took a deep.

"I think you're a really great guy," he started mumbling in embarrassment. "I think you're really good looking, and I can't find anything negative to say about you like I could with Tyson and Max. Also, I lied to you at the market place. You heard right, I did say that look you were giving me was sexy." He got quieter with every few words, but he knew he was loud enough for Kai to hear him. He looked up at Kai expecting to see some kind of confused or hateful face.

Max struggled under Tyson's weight and grip some more. He didn't want to do the thing that he was thinking about doing to Tyson to get him off. But Tyson was pushing him closer to it every second. He'd gotten a little closer to his face and was smirking, talking about how weak Max was and how he couldn't possibly do anything to get him off. "Don't hate me for doing this," Max told Tyson, and Tyson gave him a confused look. Although Max was more confident in what he was about to do than he would have been a few days ago, because of the things that had happened in the past few days, he was still scared that he might have taken what Tyson was saying and doing the wrong way and that what he was about to do could wreak their friendship.

"Why would I hate you Maxie?" Tyson asked him. Max attempted a shrug.

"If you get off now we don't have to risk you hating me," he told him in one last attempt. But Tyson didn't move. He just gave Max a challenging look. Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his beating heart, and then looked at Tyson for a quick second before closing his eye again and bringing his face up even closer to Tyson's.

Max and Tyson's lips met for only a few seconds before Tyson pulled away in shock. Max rested his head back down on the bed and averted his eyes from Tyson, biting his lip. Tyson had loosened his grip on Max and gotten off him a little, but he wasn't moving completely off, or letting go of him. Max squirmed a little underneath him, trying to get away from him again now that it was even more awkward for him than before, but the squirming made Tyson snap out of his sudden shocked state and tighten his grip on Max's wrists again, lowering himself on him slightly. "Where did that come from?" he asked, it was the only thing he could think of to say to break the silence.

"I thought it would get you off of me, so I just did it," Max told him in a mumble, his face going a little pinker.

"Are you sure that's why you did it?" Tyson asked.

"No," he told him. "And I know you hate me now, and it's going to be all awkward between us. But could you get off before you start hating me?"

Tyson let out a laugh, grinning down at Max. Something Tyson had only ever thought about, but would never act make happen, just happened. "Why would I hate you after that?" he asked. Max looked up at him with a pout.

"Well you obviously didn't want it because you pulled away," he told him.

"I was just shocked that you actually did it, that's all," he told him, and then leaned down so his mouth was by Max's ear. "You look cute when you pout like that," he whispered. Max squirmed trying to get away from Tyson again, and Tyson chuckled. "And when you struggled like that."

"I look cute to you all the time!" Max yelled sounding a little annoyed, and finally deciding to accept defeat and stop struggling.

"That's true," Tyson said moving back so his face was just above Max's again.

"I think you've gone crazy," Max informed him. Tyson just gave a half shrug and moved his lips back to Max's giving him the kiss he'd pulled away from.

Kai's face wasn't full of confusion or hatred at all, and this surprised Ray. Instead Kai was giving him a small smile, and his expression was that of slight relief and maybe even joy. "You think I'm sexy?" was the first thing he asked, smirking. Ray turned a dark pink and looked away from him.

"I think you're a lot of things," he told him in a mumble. He wondered if Kai was just playing with him now, or if he was actually going to try to make this lead somewhere.

"I suppose you want to know what I think of you," Kai said, making it sound slightly like a question.

"Only if it's not something bad," Ray told him. Kai chuckled.

"I think," he started. "That you're amazing, attractive, and cute." Ray turned a shade even darker and gripped the blanket that he hadn't bothered to put back around himself. He didn't know what to say. Kai came closer to him, so that their shoulders were touching.

"I'm sorry for lying to you," Ray told him in a whisper, wishing he'd have just been honest with Kai sooner, and without the bet forcing him to be.

"I'm sorry for not taking my chances on telling you sooner," Kai told him. Ray smiled weakly. Kai smirked, leaning so his face was closer to Ray's now. Ray stared at him for a few moments, and then he and Kai both closed the gap between their lips.


	8. The Bet

Tyson broke the kiss between him and Max. They were both panting slightly. Max had his arms around Tyson's neck and one hand tangled in his hair, while Tyson had one hand beside Max and the other a little ways up his side. They stayed like that, looking at each other for a few seconds before Tyson slid out from Max's arms and stood up. Max gave him a confused look, and pushed himself up to sit cross-legged. He watched as Tyson headed for the door. "Where are you going?" he asked a little disappointedly, like he might have done something wrong, to make Tyson leave.

"I need to talk to Ray," he said, swinging his bedroom door open.

"Ray? Why do you need to talk to Ray?" he asked, completely confused.

"I need to get him to agree to stop something," Tyson told him, as he ran out the door.

"Tyson you can't go talk to him now, wait a few minutes!" Max yelled having a feeling he knew what was going on, Ray and Kai both being gone. Tyson didn't reply. "Tyson, come back!" Max yelled, getting quickly off the bed and sprinting after him.

Ray panted heavily when Kai finally pulled away. Neither of them wanted to break the kiss. Kai, realizing that Ray wasn't going to do it, pulled away knowing that they couldn't carry on with it forever. Ray had one hand in Kai's hair and the other one on his chest. Kai had both his hands on Ray's hips. Ray was now giving Kai a slight frown, and Kai chuckled giving him a kiss on the cheek, moving his hands to Ray's lower back to pull him closer. "I'm sorry," Ray whispered as he put his head on Kai's shoulder and moved the hand in Kai's hair to his chest.

"You already said that," Kai mumbled placing his head on top of Ray's.

"I know, I just don't feel like it was enough," he told him, clenching his fist.

Tyson ran down the halls of the house, Max on his tail. "Ray! Where the hell are you?" Tyson yelled.

"Tyson stop it! Leave them alone!" Max yelled at him as they got closer to the room Ray and Kai were in.

"Them?" Tyson asked looking back at Max for a second, and managing to trip over his own feet only a few steps away from the room with the fireplace. Max took this opportunity to jump him and pin him to the floor.

"Yes them," Max told him in a sharp whisper, sitting on his back and pushing down on his shoulders.

"Who's them?" Tyson asked, not even bothering to try to get away.

"Ray and Kai," Max told him as if it was obvious, because it should have been.

"Well I _really_ need to talk to Ray than," Tyson said, pushing himself up. Max let out a little yelp as he slid off Tyson and hit the floor. He looked up at Tyson with a glare. "I told you, you were weak," Tyson told him teasingly, holding out a hand to help him up. Max grabbed it, but instead of pulling himself up he gave it a hard yank sending Tyson off guard and falling into him.

Kai and Ray both looked towards the entrance of the room when they heard Ray's name. Ray moved to get away from Kai and see what Tyson wanted, but Kai tightened his grip on him so he couldn't leave. "Kai, let me go," Ray said turning in his arms, and grabbing at his hands to try and pry them open.

"I don't want you going out there and starting another fight with Tyson," Kai told him, making his grip tighter. Ray struggled with Kai's hands for a few more seconds before giving up and leaning back against him.

"We won't have another fight," Ray told him just as there was the sound of something hitting the ground hard outside the room. Ray and Kai looked towards it, but couldn't see anything.

"I don't believe you, that's all you've been doing," Kai told him, looking back at him as Ray continued to look out of the room.

"Tyson I won't let you interrupt them!" Ray and Kai could hear Max yell from. Ray looked at Kai for a second, and Kai looked away from him.

"Well it's too late for that! You just did with your yelling!" Tyson yelled back, and a few seconds later he was standing in the entranceway of the room with Max clinging to his leg. "Ray, I need to talk to you right now!" Tyson demanded. Ray looked back at Kai, he let out a sigh and let go of Ray a little hesitantly. Ray slid away from him, and stood up. He gave Kai a small smile and went over to Tyson. Tyson looked down at Max with a slight glare, and Max pouted up at him as he let go of his leg, getting up to go sit with Kai.

The two boys made their way to the back yard of the house, Ray still wrapped in his blanket and Tyson not really caring that he was in only boxers. It was dark out now anyways, and the only thing really lighting the yard up was the stars. Tyson opened the door and let Ray go ahead of him. Then looked back to make sure they weren't fallowed. He closed the door and walked past Ray towards the front of the dojo, just as an extra precaution. He leaned against the wall of the dojo, waiting a few seconds before speaking. "I want to call off the bet," he told Ray, crossing his arms.

"Is that because you know you're going to lose?" Ray asked him, smirking slightly. Tyson shook his head, trying to keep calm. He didn't need another fight.

"No," he told him. "It's because I don't want the start of my new relationship with Max while I'm in a stupid bet with you." Ray's smirk vanished.

"So you and Max got together because of the bet too?" Ray asked him. Tyson raised an eyebrow.

"No, I think it still would have happened without it. Why, is that how you were able to spill the bean to Kai?" he asked. Ray turned a slight pink.

"Yeah," he told him. "But I don't think I'd want to keep going with the bet. I feel kind of bad about it."

"So are we calling it a draw than?" Tyson asked. Ray nodded. "You hear that Kenny, we're done with this bet," Tyson said, reaching up and taking the small microphone off his hat as Ray took off his own.

Tyson and Ray entered the room laughing and looking in completely better moods. Kai raised an eyebrow at them, and Max looked confused. "What did you guys do?" he asked a little suspiciously.

"Nothing," they said at the same time, feeling a little good that they didn't have to tell them the full truth anymore.

"Liars," Kai said, crossing his arms and glaring slightly.

"We're not lying, we didn't do anything," Ray said sitting down beside Kai, leaning on him as Tyson sat down and pulled Max into his lap.

"You guys have been acting strange and fighting a lot lately, and now all of a sudden you're acting like nothing happened?" Max asked. "What gives?"

"We just needed to blow off some steam," Ray lied. Tyson nodded.

"You're not going to start making it a regular thing, are you?" Kai asked them. Ray shook his head, putting his arms around Kai's neck and his head on his shoulder. Kai wrapped his arms around the boy and brought his closer to his chest.

There was a moment of silence before Tyson couldn't take it anymore and broke it. "You know, I never though Mr. Sourpuss would be able to like anyone but himself," he said, putting his chin on Max's shoulder. Kai and Ray both glared at him. He laughed falling backwards and purposely pulling Max with him. Max let out a little yelp and rolled off Tyson.

"What's with you and making me fall backwards?" he asked, sitting up.

"What, you want to fall forwards?" Tyson asked sitting up too, and pushing Max so he landed on his stomach. Then he sat on him with his hands on his shoulders, like Max had done to him.

"Why don't you two go get a room?" Kai asked as Max tried to get Tyson off him with no luck.

"That's not a bad idea," Tyson said getting up, and grabbing Max by the wrist to pull him up. "Come on Maxie," Tyson said jokingly as he pulled him out of the room, turning to address Ray and Kai. "There's a spare room just down this hall if you guys want." He grinned at them, and pulled a protesting Max away with him back to his room. Kai shook his head and looked at Ray.

"So what's the real reason you and Tyson suddenly decided you didn't hate each other anymore?" he asked.

"We were sick of fighting and decided that our friendship was more important than the small little things that annoyed us," Ray told him. "I mean, Tyson wouldn't be Tyson if he wasn't an annoying pig."

"You know, if those words were coming from Tyson I'd think they were a load of bull," Kai told him, Ray laughed nervously. "Why'd your fighting start in the first place?" he asked. Ray shrugged.

"I think it would be better for everyone if you and Max didn't know why," he told him.

Max sat on the bed, arms crossed, glaring at Tyson. "I said I was sorry Maxie!" Tyson yelled, taking a step closer to him, but he pushed himself farther back towards the wall.

"I can't believe you made the same bet with Ray you tried on me!" he told him angrily. "Do you realize how much trouble a bet like that could have caused?"

"Yes, I was in it too!" Tyson reminded him sitting on the bed, in front of Max. "But everything worked out, so why does it matter?" he asked.

"Everything worked out for Ray, but I'm not sure it should work out for you," he told him. Tyson moved closer to Max, and Max moved back making his back hit the wall.

"But it will work out for me Maxie, because I know you don't want to break up with me before anything even starts between us," Tyson told him, putting his hands on Max's sides and moving so close their faces were almost touching.

"You're a jerk Tyson," Max whispered.

"If I'm such a jerk why do you like me?" he asked. Max blushed, and didn't answer. Tyson moved his lips so they brushed Max's, and Max wrapped his arms around Tyson's neck pulling him forward more, into a kiss.

There was a few seconds of silence were Ray thought Kai was just going to accept what he was telling him, but then Kai spoke again. "Tyson sucked you into a bet, didn't he?" he asked. Ray went wide eyed and looked at him. "I'm not stupid Ray," Kai told him. "Tyson tried the same thing on me a week ago and on Max a week before that. We just didn't accept it." Ray laughed nervously.

"Well I was kind of bored too, and didn't want him thinking I was chicken," he told him. "I'm sorry. You're not mad are you?"

"I'm not mad that you accepted, because it did get us together. But I am mad that you had to use it to tell me how you feel about me," Kai told him. Ray's expression turned to a frown and he looked away from Kai. Kai let out a soft sigh. "Did you win at least?" he asked. Ray looked back at him with a weak smile.

"No, we decided it was a tie," he told him. "We didn't want to keep going on with it. I thought it might end up wreaking things."

"Well are you at least going to keep telling me what you're thinking?" he asked.

"Maybe," Ray told him teasingly. Kai gave him a look and he laughed leaning in, pushing him to the ground. "I think I liked that bet," he said, making Kai smile slightly. Then he moved in closer to Kai, allowing their lip to touch and Kai to give him a deep, passionate, kiss.

**The End**

* * *

**Well that's the end of this story, I hoped you enjoyed it! Sorry It took me so long to update! I was actually busy with making my Cosplay costume for this summers anime convention, there's still a bit left to do on it but I want to get it done early so I don't have to worry about rushing with it. Also, I was getting ready for a different anime convention that I went to, and I was working on editing videos for my friends and mine YouTube account AssassinNinjaSquad. Check us out, wont you? Anyways, if you liked this story and didn't think you got enough of Kai/Ray yet check out my Here In Your Arms stroy. Or if you really want to swich it up I have a OneShot Tyson/Ray story called "Ends Only Bring New Beginnings". Thank you for reading this, and I hope you'll check out the things I suggested. :)**


End file.
